The Board of Supervisors complied with part of the Judge’s order: rescinding all the approvals and entitlements of the Esperanza Hills project.
After a long discussion amongst the Board members. The Board was considering holding Cielo Vista’s approvals hostage so that they could force Cielo Vista to sell an easement to Esperanza Hills! Supervisor Nelson pointed out that government had no business forcing private party agreements.
In the end, it came down to Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer reaffirming his opposition to dumping all of the Esperanza Hills’ traffic onto Stonehaven. His remedy was to send the project back to the Planning Commission for further consideration That is what they did.
This means the project will go back to the Planning Commission for:
- Additional study of the Bridge to Stonehaven vs. the zigzag route up to Stonehaven,
- A secondary daily access (across Cielo Vista) to Aspen Way, and
- Possibly a reduction in the number of units.
Check out all the recent press: Voice of OC on 12/12 and 12/14, and OC Register on 12/13 and the OC Indy on 12/14.